A 106-year-old who gardens every day gives her advice for living a long, healthy life

• Centenarian Katie MacRae celebrated her 106th birthday last month.
• She shared the habits she thought had helped her live so long with Business Insider.

Katie MacRae, who celebrated her 106th birthday last month, doesn't think there's any particular secret to her living so long. But she does advise people to live their lives to the fullest — something she has always done.

The centenarian was born just outside London in 1917, while World War I was still raging, and began working as a secretary after she left school at 15. She and her husband followed their son in moving to Australia in 1965, and she has lived there ever since.

After her husband died, MacRae lived in a retirement village for 18 years before moving to an aged-care home run by the nonprofit Bolton Clarke in Queensland in August this year. She's a member of their Centenarian Club, which holds events for the home's 100-plus-year-old residents and collects their life stories.

Asked for her advice for people wanting to live long lives, she told Business Insider: "My advice to people is to live their life to the fullest, to smile, and just enjoy whatever comes your way."

Although genetics and the fact that she doesn't smoke are likely contributors to her longevity, she shared four other lifestyle factors that she thought had enabled her to stay smiling at such an advanced age.

Gardening all her life

"I love gardening and always have done since I was a little girl," MacRae said. "I would help my father when we moved into the new house. The street had a gardening competition for the whole road, and we won a prize when I was 12 or 13."

She has continued to garden throughout her life, including planting "all" of the plants at her aged-care center and winning a "Best in Grow" competition for the home's English garden.

Gardening is a pastime for many people in Okinawa, a region of Japan where people regularly live to more than 100. The longevity researcher Dan Buettner said it could be beneficial for longevity because it facilitates daily exercise, exposes people to Vitamin D from the sun, and provides fresh vegetables.

Playing bowls

MacRae regularly plays bowls, a lawn game similar to boccie or pétanque, and recently competed in a competition against other retirement villages. She said she hoped a bowls mat would be installed at her current home soon so she could socialize even more with other residents. "Even people in wheelchairs can play," she said.

Exercising regularly is believed to be key for extending our health span, but, as BI previously reported, you don't need to go to the gym in order to stay active. In fact, some of the world's oldest people don't go to the gym; they instead do lots of walking, take the stairs, and do group sports such as bowls to make exercise more social and enjoyable.

Working and staying busy

MacRae worked as a secretary for most of her life, both in the UK and Australia, before retiring onto land she and her husband owned, which meant she stayed busy tending to it.

When she retired, she took up committee roles at her retirement village, organizing shows, mannequin parades, and theater trips.

BI previously reported that keeping the brain active was thought to be key for longevity, similar to exercising and eating a healthy diet. Plus, researchers from LongeviQuest, a longevity research organization, told BI that working for as long as possible was common among the centenarians and supercentenarians they'd spoken to.

Keep smiling

"When I went to the supermarket a while back, and someone came towards me, I smiled at them to see what would happen. They smiled back, so I did it several times, and all of a sudden, a lady stopped, and we chatted. She said to me, 'It's made my day having this little conversation with you,'" MacRae said.

MacRae's biggest advice is "just smile, be happy, and enjoy life."

BI recently reported that researchers found centenarians tended to look for silver linings, were grateful for what they had, and actively nurtured their relationships, so a positive attitude is another key habit for longevity.